When I was a child

Here's another acrylic painting (I'm getting to really like these!). This is based on an old photo of me from many years ago. Enjoyed this one, and I'm definitely going to do more acrylics.

Acrylic, 10" by 14"

If the wind changes direction....

...your face will stick like that! This is what we were told when we were kids, pulling faces...

Here's the result of my acrylic inspiration. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and I think I'll be doing more along these lines. I found that the image this is based on had mysteriously appeared on my camera when I got home from visiting my sis...

I had such good fun with this, messing with the colours and generally enjoying my new-found acrylic confidence. Found it hard to get a good pic; there's a bit of glare on the right hand side. Click the picture for a closer look.

Acrylic, 10" by 14", on paper (I'll have to do a biggie sometime soon!)

And here's the work in progress: you really have to have faith that it's going to turn out the way you want it to, it looks pretty grim in the early stages!

JoeDaisy workshop

Thought I'd write a few words about a fab workshop I went on a couple of weekends ago - Get Creative, at the JoeDaisy Studio in Mapledurham, near Reading. If you like the idea of getting stuck in, painting in your own way while enjoying guidance and support from a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic tutor (Cat Croxford, in this case), then this place is for you! Their website says 'Our Philosophy is to Bring Out the Artist in YOU!! and not just getting you painting like the tutor' - this is spot on, and it's what made the weekend so enjoyable.

I went with the aim of doing something completely different to my usual little watercolours, and I ended up painting in acrylic on the biggest canvas I have ever had - great fun! All your materials are provided, so no need to go out buying loads of stuff, I learned loads of tips about working with acrylics, and the whole weekend was very relaxed - a great little studio in a beautiful hamlet. The JoeDaisy guest house, where I stayed, was excellent too (especially for birders - I was watching red kites from the guest house garden - brill).


All in all it was just what I needed to get out of that bit of a rut I'd been in. I'm planning on going back and doing some more of their workshops. And I've been inspired to get the acrylics out (as you'll see in the next post...)

Garlic and onions

Here's what I've been doing today and yesterday - this is an exercise in values from the Painting Friends forum. First off I did a value sketch using charcoal, trying to identify light, medium and dark values. I then used this as a guide for the watercolour painting. Actually I think I like the sketch better than the painting!

Reference photo was by yabby, from the Wet Canvas image library.

Watercolour: 9" by 12"
Sketch: A4 (just a bit smaller than the painting)